Madrid -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Spain is expelling the Libyan ambassador to Madrid and three other Libyan diplomats here , the Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday .

`` The government of Spain has decided to put an end to the mission of the ambassador accredited in Madrid by the authorities in Tripoli -LRB- Libya -RRB- , because the Gadhafi regime has lost all legitimacy due to its continual repression of the Libyan population , '' the statement said .

The Libyan ambassador to Madrid , Ajeli Abdussalam Ali Breni , `` has 10 days to leave '' Spain , the ministry said .

The government also is expelling three other diplomats at the Libyan embassy `` who undertook activities incompatible with their diplomatic status , '' the statement said .

But Spain has not broken diplomatic relations with Libya , said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman , who by custom is not identified .

Spain still has an embassy in Tripoli , although it evacuated its personnel from the city , like many other nations , as fighting between the regime of Moammar Gadhafi and rebels intensified in late March .

The Spanish Embassy in Tripoli , staffed only by local Libyan personnel , `` is not closed in a diplomatic sense , '' the spokeswoman said .

It was not immediately clear , she added , how many Libyan diplomats or local Spanish personnel might remain at the Libyan Embassy in Madrid , after the expulsion of the ambassador and the three other Libyan diplomats .

Spanish Foreign Ministry Trinidad Jimenez on June 8 visited the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi , where she declared that Libya 's rebel National Transitional Council was a `` valid interlocutor '' and a `` legitimate representative of the aspirations of the Libyan people , '' the spokeswoman said .

Spain has been participating in United Nations-mandated , NATO-led military operations in Libya . Spain has deployed four F-18 fighter jets and a refueling plane to help enforce a no-fly zone , and a frigate , a submarine and a surveillance plane to help impose an arms embargo against the Gadhafi regime .

@highlight

Spain is telling the Libyan ambassador to leave

@highlight

Three other diplomats are also being expelled

@highlight

Spain is not breaking off diplomatic relations with Libya